greykit.essays — #enlightenment

• 1748-01-01 [sources-of-liberty] The Spirit of the Laws

  The Enlightenment treatise on government the founders cited above all others — the source of the doctrine of the separation of powers, from the selected books on the forms, principles, and corruption of government and on political liberty.

  #enlightenment#1740s#treatise#separation-of-powers#liberty#republicanism#self-government
• 1729 [sources-of-liberty] A Modest Proposal

  Swift's savage satire proposing that the Irish poor sell their children as food — the most famous satirical essay in English.

  #enlightenment#1720s#essay#satire#liberty
• 1689-01-01 [sources-of-liberty] A Letter Concerning Toleration

  Locke's argument that the magistrate's power reaches only civil interests, not the salvation of souls — the founding text of the liberal case for religious liberty.

  #enlightenment#1680s#letter#religious-toleration#liberty#natural-rights#self-government
• 1689 [sources-of-liberty] Second Treatise of Government

  Locke's foundational argument for government by consent, natural rights, and the right of revolution — the deepest source of the American founding.

  #enlightenment#1680s#treatise#natural-rights#liberty#self-government#republicanism